Chroma Features

Chromagrams for own tracks

Chromagrams capture the harmonic content by showing how energy is distributed across the 12 pitch classes (C, C#, D, etc.) over time.

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Chromagrams

  • Evan-l-1.wav - Ambient
    • The energy is mainly in the lower frequency range, below ~5 kHz
    • The overall amplitude is low, this reflects the quiet ambient sounds
    • The minimal structure suggests an ambient or instrumental track
  • Evan-l-2.wav - Breakbeat
    • Covers a much wider frequency range, reaching beyond 10 kHz, with distinct variations in energy
    • Brighter colors indicate stronger amplitude, due to the track being comparatively dynamic
    • The structure implies prominent rhythmic and melodic elements, as is the case with my breakbeat track

Self-Similarity Matrices

SSMs

  • Evan-l-1.wav - Ambient
    • The chroma-SSM shows some variation, but overall pretty uniform and repetitive
    • The timbre-SSM is mostly smooth and table
  • Evan-l-2.wav - Breakbeat
    • The chroma-SSM has more distinct patterns, like a checkerboard. The song has stronger harmonic changes with varied chord progressions.
    • The timbre-SSM shows greater shifts in instruments or timbres

Exploring Musical Properties - Version 2

My AI-Generated Tracks

These tracks were created using Stableaudio AI (Stableaudio). I took inspiration from genre tags on RateYourMusic and carefully crafted prompts using detailed descriptors to shape the sound. After generating the tracks, I simply downloaded the MP3 files.

Track 1: Meditative Ambient Soundscape

Track 1: Meditative Ambient Soundscape

Style: Ambient, Post-Rock, Cinematic
Length: 2 minutes
Goal: A calm, meditative ambient with minimal instrumentation.

Tags Used:
Ambient, Post-Rock, Cinematic, Ethereal, Soothing, Meditative, Minimalist, Warm Subtle Bass, Deep Drones, Airy Pads, Textures, Analog Synths, Field Recordings, Wind Sounds, Reverb, 60 BPM

Track 2: Energetic Breakbeat Rave

Track 2: Energetic Breakbeat Rave

Style: Breakbeat, Acid Breaks, 90s Rave
Length: 2 minutes
Goal: A high-energy, chaotic breakbeat track.

Tags Used:
Breakbeat, Acid Breaks, 90s Rave, Energetic, Raw, Funky, Chaotic, Breakbeats, Deep Bass, Distorted 808, Acid Bass, Filtered Chords, Reversed Pads, Vocal Chops, 135 BPM

Creation Process

  1. Prompt Design:
    • Used RateYourMusic to explore fitting genre tags.
    • Structured prompts with specific instruments, moods, and BPM to guide the AI.
  2. Generation:
    • Entered prompts into Stableaudio AI.
    • Experimented with variations before selecting the best versions.
  3. Finalization:
    • Downloaded the MP3 files and ensured they matched my vision.

Visualization

Here’s a scatterplot of the Danceability compared to the Tempo of the tracks. My track 1 (ambient) is marked red, track 2 (breakbeat) is blue.

Final Thoughts

Findings and Final Thoughts

There appears to be no set correlation between the danceability and tempo of the tracks. However, an interesting pattern emerges: there are two clusters—one with low danceability, and another with high danceability, while the tempo does not differ much.

Regarding my own tracks:

One particularly surprising observation is how the AI interpreted the second song’s tempo. While I set it to 135 BPM, it was classified as 93 BPM. This suggests that the AI might have emphasized a different rhythmic structure or half-time feel in its classification.